Harvard taps Gillum and Heitkamp for fellows program

Harvard University has tapped Andrew Gillum — a breakout Democratic star, despite losing his bid for Florida governor — for a spring fellowship.

Gillum, along with former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and former Reps. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) and Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), will teach in the Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics.

Story Continued Below

Gary Cohn, who was the director of the National Economic Council during the early days of the Trump administration, was also named a spring fellow.

Gillum, a former Tallahassee mayor, is viewed as a likely 2020 king- or queenmaker because Democratic presidential hopefuls will likely seek his endorsement and valuable volunteer and donor lists.

The institute regularly pulls big names to give lectures in the fellows series, sometimes sparking controversy with its picks, as it did when it named former White House press secretary Sean Spicer and former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.